Southern District of West Virginia

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Justice News

Three dealers sentenced to Federal prison for drug crimes

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Three men were sentenced today to federal prison for drug crimes, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto.

Terrance Dewayne Hayes, 30, of Welch, was sentenced to a year and four months in federal prison for distribution of heroin. Hayes previously pleaded guilty in February 2016, admitting that he distributed heroin to a confidential informant in Havaco in McDowell County on June 15, 2015.

Keith Joseph Alfred, 43, of Princeton, was sentenced to eight months in federal prison for distribution of hydromorphone. Alfred pled guilty in January 2016, admitting that he distributed hydromorphone pills to a confidential informant in Bluewell in Mercer County on October 22, 2013.

Stephen Wayne Steele, 42, of Bluefield, was sentenced to six months in federal prison for distribution of hydromorphone. Steele previously pleaded guilty in February 2016. He admitted that on April 7, 2015, he distributed hydromorphone pills to a confidential informant in Green Valley in Mercer County.

All of the defendants were sentenced to three years of supervised release to be completed after their prison terms.

These cases were investigated by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney John File handled the prosecutions. Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentences.

These cases were brought as part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative, an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.